DoorDash Releases Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ: DASH) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. In addition to our financial results below, our letter to shareholders is available on the DoorDash investor relations website at http://ir.doordash.com.

Excellent execution and continued investment allowed us to serve more consumers on more occasions than at any time in our history in Q3 2023, which drove strong year-over-year growth in Total Orders, Marketplace GOV, and revenue in the quarter. Our broad-based growth and continued focus on expense discipline drove an improvement to our Q3 2023 GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests versus Q3 2022, while Adjusted EBITDA reached an all-time high. We are excited by our progress so far in 2023, and even more so by the opportunity we have to further expand the scale, breadth, and impact of our business going forward.

Third Quarter 2023 Key Financial Metrics

• Total Orders increased 24% year-over-year (Y/Y) to 543 million and Marketplace GOV increased 24% Y/Y to $16.8 billion.
• Revenue increased 27% Y/Y to $2.2 billion and Net Revenue Margin increased to 12.9% from 12.6% in Q3 2022.
• GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests was $75 million compared to $296 million in Q3 2022, and Adjusted EBITDA increased to $344 million from $87 million in Q3 2022.

Our Performance in Q3 2023

Q3 2023 was our best quarter as a public company for Marketplace GOV, revenue, GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests, and Adjusted EBITDA. In Q3 2023, effective execution, ongoing investments throughout our business, and strong consumer demand drove Total Orders up 24% Y/Y, Marketplace GOV up 24% Y/Y, and revenue up 27% Y/Y.

In our U.S. marketplace, Y/Y growth in Total Orders accelerated in Q3 2023 compared to Q2 2023 in both our restaurant and non-restaurant categories. Y/Y growth in Total Orders also accelerated in Q3 2023 compared to Q2 2023 in our international marketplaces¹ and in our Platform Services.

We grew monthly active users² in September at a double-digit Y/Y rate, with strong contributions from both our domestic and international markets. We also grew Q3-ending members in DashPass and Wolt+ on both a Y/Y and quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q) basis. Y/Y growth in order frequency accelerated slightly in Q3 2023 compared to Q2 2023.

In addition to strong growth in Total Orders and Marketplace GOV in Q3 2023, improvements to logistics efficiency and a growing contribution from advertising helped drive revenue up 27% Y/Y in Q3 2023.

The combination of efficiency gains and disciplined fixed cost management improved GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests to $75 million in Q3 2023 compared to a GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests of $296 million in Q3 2022. Adjusted EBITDA reached an all-time high in Q3 2023 of $344 million compared to $87 million in Q3 2022.

GAAP cost of revenue was $1.2 billion in Q3 2023, up 24% Y/Y and 2% Q/Q. As a percentage of Marketplace GOV, GAAP cost of revenue was 6.9% in Q3 2023, compared to 6.9% in both Q3 2022 and Q2 2023.

GAAP sales and marketing expense was $449 million in Q3 2023, up 7% Y/Y and down 5% Q/Q. Dasher acquisition costs declined on both a Y/Y and Q/Q basis in Q3 2023, while other sales and marketing expenses increased Y/Y and were roughly flat Q/Q.

We continued to manage operating expenses with discipline in Q3 2023. Combined, GAAP research and development expense and GAAP general and administrative expense was $539 million in Q3 2023, up very slightly from $537 million in Q3 2022, and down 12% from $610 million in Q2 2023. Compared to Q2 2023, Q3 2023 GAAP general and administrative expense benefited from the combination of a reallocation of certain automotive liabilities to cost of revenue, changes in tax-related items, and a seasonal decline in compensation expenses.

In Q3 2023, operating cash flow was $398 million and Free Cash Flow was $324 million. On a trailing 12-month basis, we generated operating cash flow of $1.2 billion and Free Cash Flow of $878 million.

In February 2023, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of our Class A common stock. Year-to-date, we repurchased a total of 12.0 million shares of our Class A common stock for $750 million, which completed repurchases under the February authorization. Based on our current forecast for stock issuances, we now expect to exit 2023 with total basic shares, options, and RSUs outstanding between 450 million and 455 million.

Financial Outlook

Our outlook assumes that key foreign currency rates remain relatively stable at current levels. Our outlook also anticipates significant levels of ongoing investment in new categories and international markets. We caution investors that consumer spending in any of our geographies could deteriorate relative to our outlook, which could drive results below our expectations. Additionally, our increasing international exposure heightens risks associated with operating in foreign markets, including geopolitical and currency risks. Changes in the international operating environment could negatively impact results versus our current outlook.

We have not provided GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests outlook or a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests as a result of the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, reconciling items such as taxes and other items. Accordingly, a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net loss including redeemable non-controlling interests is not available without unreasonable effort. However, it is important to note that material changes to reconciling items could have a significant effect on future GAAP results. We have provided historical reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP metrics in tables at the end of this release. For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this release, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.

A Note On Our Financial Outlook Going Forward

In our Q4 2023 earnings release, we intend to provide our outlook for Marketplace GOV and Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2024 as well as full-year 2024. However, beginning with our Q1 2024 earnings release, we intend to discontinue providing any full-year financial outlooks. We intend to continue providing quarterly outlooks for Marketplace GOV and Adjusted EBITDA in our earnings releases.

Analyst and Investor Conference Call and Earnings Webcast

DoorDash will host a conference call and webcast to discuss our quarterly results today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Those interested in listening to the call can register and attend by visiting our Investor Relations page at https://ir.doordash.com. An archived webcast will be available on our Investor Relations page shortly after the call.

Available Information

We announce material information to the public about us, our products and services, and other matters through a variety of means, including filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), press releases, public conference calls, webcasts, the investor relations section of our website (ir.doordash.com), our blog (doordash.news), and our X account (@DoorDash) in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “would,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” "aim", "try", “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategies, plans, or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, our expectations regarding our financial position and operating performance, including our outlook and guidance for future periods, our expectations regarding our international business, our plans and expectations regarding our investment approach, our ability to manage our expenses, including stock-based compensation expense, our expectations regarding our local commerce opportunity, trends in our business, including the effect of the macroeconomic environment, consumer spending, demand for our platform and for local commerce platforms in general, our expectations regarding our disclosure of financial outlooks, and our plans and expectations regarding share dilution, including our share repurchase authorization, and our ability to manage dilution. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including risks and uncertainties related to: competition, managing our growth and corporate culture, financial performance, including our ability to forecast our performance due to our limited operating history, investments in new geographies, products, or offerings, our ability to attract merchants, consumers, and Dashers to our platform, legal proceedings and regulatory matters and developments, any future changes to our business or our financial or operating model, and our brand and reputation. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted, including those more fully described in our filings with the SEC Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to DoorDash and assumptions and beliefs as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our financial information presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we consider certain financial measures that are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, including adjusted cost of revenue, adjusted sales and marketing expense, adjusted research and development expense, adjusted general and administrative expense, Contribution Profit, Contribution Margin, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow. We use these financial measures in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our business and financial performance. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors about our business and financial performance, enhance their overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to metrics used by our management in their financial and operational decision making. We are presenting these non-GAAP financial measures to assist investors in seeing our business and financial performance through the eyes of management, and because we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide an additional tool for investors to use in comparing results of operations of our business over multiple periods with other companies in our industry.

We define adjusted cost of revenue as cost of revenue, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, excluding stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense, allocated overhead, and inventory write off related to restructuring. Allocated overhead is determined based on an allocation of shared costs, such as facilities (including rent and utilities) and information technology costs, among all departments based on employee headcount. We define adjusted sales and marketing expense as sales and marketing expenses excluding stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense, and allocated overhead. We define adjusted research and development expense as research and development expenses excluding stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense, and allocated overhead. We define adjusted general and administrative expense as general and administrative expenses excluding stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense, certain legal, tax, and regulatory settlements, reserves, and expenses, transaction-related costs (primarily consists of acquisition, integration, and investment related costs), impairment expenses, and including allocated overhead from cost of revenue, sales and marketing, and research and development.

We define Adjusted Gross Profit as gross profit plus (i) depreciation and amortization expense related to cost of revenue, (ii) stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense included in cost of revenue, (iii) allocated overhead included in cost of revenue, and (iv) inventory write off related to restructuring. Gross profit is defined as revenue less (i) cost of revenue, exclusive of depreciation and amortization and (ii) depreciation and amortization related to cost of revenue. Adjusted Gross Margin is defined as Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of revenue for the same period.

We define Contribution Profit as our gross profit less sales and marketing expense plus (i) depreciation and amortization expense related to cost of revenue, (ii) stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense included in cost of revenue and sales and marketing expenses, (iii) allocated overhead included in cost of revenue and sales and marketing expenses, and (iv) inventory write off related to restructuring. We define gross margin as gross profit as a percentage of revenue for the same period and we define Contribution Margin as Contribution Profit as a percentage of revenue for the same period.

Adjusted EBITDA is a measure that we use to assess our operating performance and the operating leverage in our business. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) including redeemable non-controlling interests, adjusted to exclude (i) certain legal, tax, and regulatory settlements, reserves, and expenses, (ii) loss on disposal of property and equipment, (iii) transaction-related costs (primarily consists of acquisition, integration, and investment related costs), (iv) impairment expenses, (v) restructuring charges, (vi) inventory write off related to restructuring, (vii) provision for (benefit from) income taxes, (viii) interest income, net, (ix) other expense, net, (x) stock-based compensation expense and certain payroll tax expense, and (xi) depreciation and amortization expense.

We define Free Cash Flow as cash flows from operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software and website development costs.

We define Total Orders as all orders completed through our marketplaces and platform services businesses over the period of measurement.

We define Marketplace GOV as the total dollar value of orders completed on our marketplaces, including taxes, tips, and any applicable consumer fees, including membership fees related to DashPass and Wolt+. Marketplace orders include orders completed through Pickup and DoorDash for Work. Marketplace GOV does not include the dollar value of orders, taxes and tips, or fees charged to merchants, for orders fulfilled through Drive, Storefront, or Bbot.

We define Net Revenue Margin as revenue expressed as a percentage of Marketplace GOV.

Our definitions may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish these or similar metrics. Further, these metrics have certain limitations in that they do not include the impact of certain expenses that are reflected in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. Thus, our adjusted cost of revenue, adjusted sales and marketing expense, adjusted research and development expense, adjusted general and administrative expense, Contribution Profit, Contribution Margin, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow should be considered in addition to, not as substitutes for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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